As we approach the end of the school year, many thesis shows will be exhibited in Gallery 130 on the UM campus.

Starting Monday and wrapping up on April 29, three BFA exhibitions will be featured in the gallery. All graduating BFA students have a thesis exhibition before leaving the art department, and creative displays are a hallmark of these presentations.

BFA Thesis Exhibition No. 1 features painting students Sarah Hammond and Alice Connelly plus graphic design student, Heidi Bain. The reception will be held today from 4-6 p.m.

Though I am not familiar with many of the BFA students, I have had the opportunity to know some of them. Hammond’s artistic talent can be found at The Shelter as well as having worked at several children’s arts events around town.

The second exhibition will run from April 18-22 with the reception held on Thursday, April 21, from 4-6 p.m. This pre-Double Decker event will be a highlight for me, as one of my assistant art teachers, Hunter Johnson, will be displaying her newest work along with Sarah Adzick, who works in ceramics, and Paige Shryock, who is in imaging arts. Johnson, who paints, is trying something new with this newest collection, and is focusing on using the element of light as a medium in her art.

From April 25-29 the final BFA Thesis Exhibition will complete this school year’s series. Avery Cordray and Camille Hunt are both painters and are joined by ceramicist Taylor Mauer. Make sure you also attend their reception from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, April 28. This is a great opportunity to see what the art students at Ole Miss have been up to, share in their success and wish them well in their future careers as artists.

Please take some time to support them by attending their exhibitions and meeting them at the receptions.

And while we are on the subject of successful art students, the Oxford Treehouse Gallery has jumped on the bandwagon with its newest show featuring work by artist Richard Kelso this month.

Though Kelso is no longer a student, he graduated from the University of Mississippi Art Department with his MFA in painting in 1980. He lives in Jackson, where he is a full-time painter and his work is represented in collections all over the country.

Also in the gallery is new work from Ron Lindsey, Paul Fayard and Ed Williford.

There will also be a sneak preview of work by Martha Ferris who will have a showing in the gallery in the fall. The gallery is a destination all its own and is owned by Walter and Vivian Neill. It is located at 328 County Road 418 in Oxford, and is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon until 6 p.m.

Next week, I will cover the last decade or so of my Double Decker experiences in honor of the upcoming festival.

Countdown to this year’s festival eight days!

ANDI BEDSWORTH is owner of Art To Go, which brings free art opportunities to children in the community.